Random Acts Of Kindness

Sometimes it’s easy to lose faith in humanity when news channels are plagued with footage of terrorist attacks and people fail to treat you with kindness and respect. So, it’s important to take note when people preform random, unexpected acts of kindness. This past week I witnessed three acts of true compassion and kind-heartedness. While the people who performed these acts probably don’t even realize the effect they had, their kindness was much needed reminder of what is important in life during a stressful and busy time in my life.

A group of women from my university went to volunteer at a local historic cemetery last weekend. It wasn’t located in the best part of town, however it is still hard for me to believe how incredibly grateful and kind the people were. Our task was to paint the fence around the cemetery and the entire time people were driving by honking and shouting ‘thank you!’ from their car windows. However, what most surprised me about this day was when a father of four children came outside his home and brought every single one of us a cold sport’s drink. His house was small and run down and his four, young children were watching from the front yard. I was so shocked that someone with so little to spare, since he had so many children, was still willing to give us something small. Furthermore, his children were watching the entire time and all I could think was what an incredible lesson he was teaching his children about kindness.

Later in the week when I was working at a clothing store, I witnessed one customer give a bunch of her coupons to a complete stranger because she said she wasn’t going to use all of them. Sure, this gesture wasn’t life changing but it still made me smile. It’s so rare to see that sort of kindness in our customers. More often than not, people complain about not being able to use coupons or not being allowed to return something they bought two years ago. It was nice to see someone do something nice for a complete stranger.

My friend and I also witnessed another act of kindness when we were running some errands one afternoon. We were stopped at a four-way intersection when a man got out of his car. We were both confused and immediately judged him for doing so until we saw what his intentions were. He ran across the intersection and handed some money to a man without legs that was sitting in a wheelchair. He literally stopped traffic to help someone in need. It was really refreshing to see someone doing something so kind for a complete stranger.

So, if you look closely you will see the good in humanity. Keep your eyes open for these random acts of kindness and think about doing the same for others. You never know how one small act of compassion could affect another person.

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The Urban Banyan Trees

In a park in downtown St. Petersburg, FL, were two trees from another world, trees that belonged in the jungles of India with monkeys swinging from their branches. My husband and I who had been passing the time as we waited to see a movie downtown, approached the sight with a sort of reverence.

Trunk of the Banyan Tree with carvingsCorrinne Brubaker

The tree had many different trunks and roots wound together. There were also long branches hanging down from the tree. They were hanging low enough we could touch them. My husband grabbed one and said, "look, they're roots."

Banyan Tree RootsCorrinne Brubaker

He was right. I thought they resembled roots. At the end of the vine-like branches were many strands that looked like roots. It turns out they were roots. The Banyan tree is an aerial plant. It begins growing in the air until the new roots can reach the ground and attach to the soil. The tree continues to grow and spread this way, creating its dense maze-like structure.

I wondered how old this plant was. By its size, it appeared ancient, but there was not just one trunk to reference its age like you can with other trees, even the central trunk was a combination of many smaller trunks intertwined.

Seeing this unique, magnificent tree was nothing short of an honor. An accidental honor that we had stumbled upon, a jungle tree thriving in the middle of a city. Tall sparkling hotels and condominiums stood as an odd backdrop for the tree, but the tree seemed proud to be there and call the city it's home.

The tree's sprawling ancient roots that rippled over the ground looked like a great place to sit. So, I sat for a moment on the smooth, sturdy surface. The tree was as welcoming as it looked.